A Girl and Her Flying Death Mecha
by KitoNiya
Summary: After Rendain's banishment, Phoebe decides to make a move on Caldarius, who hasn't really planned anything out for the future besides killing Rendain. Since Rendain's dead, what'll he do now? Will he overcome his constant ache of vengeance to sit down and actually talk to someone about his feelings for once? Phoebe X Caldarius. Lemon will be added later on in the story
1. Gravity-Powered Baroness

*** **DISCLAIMER:** I do NOT own Battleborn or any of its characters and lore*** ( **A/N:** I haven't seen nearly enough Caldarius x Phoebe... anything, really. This is my first story posted, so it's going to be riddled with flaws. I hardly even know how to work this damn site anyways. If I done screwed up real hard, please do point out what I did wrong because I know my writing needs work and improvement. Anyways, rated M for profanity and sexual themes.)

A few weeks after Rendain's banishment, two soldiers of different factions were talking about their different ways of stress management. The last few weeks being all PR and paperwork was weighing down on most members of the Battleborn.

"Poetry!" Mike screamed.

"That is not precisely what I meant by "expressing" myself. I was more thinking… gutting Rendain like the fish he is." Caldarius informed

"Didn't we already do that? In fact, I remember Orendi pulling you off with all four arms to "save some for her." Mike reminded.

"True, but it is quite restricting when you have to save enough of him to be banished to the void and still register as a "living" being. If you were in solitary confinement for decades after being sustained and tortured so you survive it for sure, you would feel the same way. To crush someone's skull in-between your hands is the feeling I live for." Caldarius said.

"Even though I can't understand a single thing you mean, I still recommend POETRY! After all, poetry is BADASS!" Mike said.

"Eh, I guess there is not a point to emphasizing philosophy and beliefs to a cloned soldier that only does what they're told. No offense of course, you do fight well, but I needed to make my point clear." Caldarius semi-disappointedly said.

"Maybe… YOU SHOULD SHOOT THINGS! LIKE SPIDERS! I know it'd make me feel better about myself!" Mike said.

Caldarius sighed and moved the subject onto something else.

In a large mansion that belonged to Phoebe Elizabeth Audelia Hemsworth IV, an old man was on a porch with a large man. The mansion was white with gold streams of silk hanging on the curtains, blue and yellow banners representing the Last Light Consortium were hanging from the far walls. There was a chandelier hanging above each of the two central tables in the house. The second floor wasn't that fleshed out from the first floor, but that was where the residents sleep and do their private activities. Two figures of importance were looking towards the orange haze of the gradient sunset.

"So let me get this straight, the Eldrid want to kill any last Jennerit left INCLUDING those in the Battleborn?" said Kleese, one of the original Battleborn.

"That's what Thorn told me, and she hates Jennerit with a burning passion. Well, we both know that there is NO way that they're doing that. Even if we backed out of supporting our Jennerit troops, they'd be way too eager to kill anything they can get in their line of sight to be taken down by the naturalists of Ekkunar." Ghalt reminded another of the first-born. "In other news, I've heard word of another Kemessian living in the outer rim planets of Solus. I don't think we should tell any of the Jennerit about this yet, or anyone outside of a small group of very trusted individuals."

"No rest for the Battleborn I guess. Maybe we can gently interrogate Caldarius of his origins, and if that fails, normal interrogation methods will have to do!" Kleese suggested happily.

"Well I guess that's the reason that we need me to keep you from killing the whole crew you old fart. I doubt Caldarius would know ANYTHING about Kemessians, after all, both of us know that he's been in the pits for years, that's why anyone knows about him at all. He grew up in the pits, in an arena that fights for food and scraps. He walked in as the Kemessian slave and came out as Caldarius the shock trooper. Funnily enough, he even earned a small LLC audience. Phoebe would know all about that, wouldn't she…" Ghalt said.

"WHAT!?" a far away Phoebe asked while holding a large stack of plates and cutlery.

"You know, I've seen what he did as a slave in those pits, and it scares me how brutal he got at some points. You know, speaking of working for what you have, why do LLC always throw your money at the strangest things? Things. We appreciate the weapons manufacturing, but couldn't you give back a little more?" Ghalt asked Kleese.

"You see, we're rich so we do rich things. At least some of us buy battle equipment and training to fight for something instead of sitting around being loaded with cash." Kleese explained.

Ghalt glanced at Kleese, he was sitting on a chair with a holographic cat on his lap; Ghalt found this kind of hypocritical. They've banished Lothar Rendain, killed the guardian of Ekkunar, and an ISIC Magnus A.I, which they converted to their side, although loosely as he may be.

"Weren't we supposed to be throwing some kind of success celebration for taking down the "bad" Jennerit?: Kleese queried.

"Yeah, we were, that's why all of the LLC came here to prepare for it. Probably going to be the first time they cleaned in their lives." Ghalt chuckled off.

"Going to be some party; Solus' most dangerous fighters under one roof with each other, no one's going to die at all." Kleese said sarcastically. "Well, I guess we better help them if we want the same portions as everyone else." Kleese said.

It was a lovely afternoon around Phoebe's mansion, about 1pm when people started to arrive. The doorbell rang, but they weren't guests, they were people who came to help prepare with the party. They mainly consisted of Rogue members that wanted to look good in front of the LLC who only viewed them as criminals and extremists, which to be fair, isn't far off as they were an outcast group of fighters.. It was about 3pm when the guests started arriving to the large mansion that was practically a palace. The doorbell rang and with about 2 people and behind it.

"MARQUIS!? COULD YOU GET THE DOOR? WE'RE A BIT BUSY HERE!" Phoebe shouted from the kitchen.

"Hello! And welcome to Ms. Hemsworth's estate! Please place your shoes over there as we wouldn't want you to dirty up the floor which we spent bloody hours cleaning." Marquis said in a sarcastically happy voice.

"Someone doesn't like their job." Montana, a giant, muscular minigunner whispered to Mike just loud enough for him to hear. "HELLO, MARQUIS!" Montana said in a friendly voice while extended his hand. Marquis lightly shook it; mainly because Montana's hand was excessively large. Montana and Mike walked into the house and found their way to a small corner of the room with the awkwardness of being first to a party really getting to them. Montana did his hair and beard along with wearing a classic flannel shirt with cargo pants. Mike didn't change much, still in a full body armor suit; the only difference was that he held no rifle, only a small pistol. Montana of course didn't bring his mini gun with him, at least not on his person.

Shortly after they arrived, more people started pouring in, some were Battleborn, and some were not. It took a while, but at about 3:47pm, Caldarius and Orendi came to the door. Phoebe was done with her work for the moment and wanted to get the door. She checked her hair and makeup, adjusted her dress and pushed some of her blonde hair out of the way of her red eyes before opening the door.

"Hello, Caldarius and… Orendi? Caldarius, tell me exactly where she touched you! Phoebe asked snakingly.

Caldarius was in his J-HTX armor frame with a TMP on the back of his waist, but Orendi… Orendi was in a straitjacket.

"It's to keep her from killing everyone here. In case you haven't noticed, she's kind of crazy." Caldarius said as if no one knew.

"Oh, well, she can behave on her own, right?" Phoebe worriedly asked.

"Well, unless you want to risk everyone's fleshes being incinerated in a pillar of shadowy fire, then have fun getting her to behave. I'm going to be over there doing something." Caldarius said calmly.

Phoebe giggled uncomfortably, but the worry of Orendi being unchained and the equal threat of her also being chained was plaguing her mind. Orendi walked slowly to her other Rogue teammates to do whatever they do, probably some kind of term for doing something simple and making it confusing so no one but Rogue members can understand it. Caldarius stayed at the door, watching for Orendi to make any sudden moves.

"So, you want some water or any snacks? The food isn't ready yet, but we have light snacks and wine." Phoebe offered.

"No thank you, I do not require sustenance yet, not for hours at least." Caldarius said. Caldarius walked away, slightly confused towards Phoebe's hospitality.

"Most LLC have an intense hatred of anyone besides themselves and their benefactors. Why would any LLC, especially someone as fine-tuned as Phoebe, be kind to me. Eh, guess it is just that "LLC hospitality" that people always drone about. Or, at least the one that isn't them calling security droids on you. That, or she found my data recorder and is intending on blackmailing me soon." Caldarius pondered as he made his way to a room which looked like the people there would be the least intolerable.

Phoebe walked over to sit next to Deande, probably one of the more classy Jennerits out there.

"You okay? You look like Kleese when he slipped and showed compassion to all of us." Deande asked.

"Eh, I'm just a little bored. Talking with all of these rich LLC members, that's why I joined the Battleborn I guess. I want to talk about the battlefield, about the rush of battle, about vengeance, about… anything that isn't money and politics, really. Ironic that one of the largest producers of weapons and armaments still hardly knows anything about them, at least that I've seen." Phoebe sadly said.

"Oh, well then you have a lot of options. I'd go for any of the Rogues or Jennerit. Peacekeepers usually refrain from speaking of things like that because of their jobs requiring that they have "the best intentions" and usually that's their only income. Galilea is probably the only Peacekeeper willing to discuss those kinds of matters openly. If you can get a conversation going with Rath, Caldarius, Foxtrot, or Shayne, they'll start an… interesting conversation on combat and whatnot. Caldarius is rough around the edges and kind of hard to converse with, but once you find a starter, I don't think he'll stop. No one really talks to him too much except about being a Kemessian and having his home world destroyed. Rath is the only person he'll pretty much always talk to. Rath is the keeper of the blade, and most likely not called that for no reason. However, Foxtrot is a very… interesting person, being a hate-filled "defective" clone." Deande explained to Phoebe.

"I think I'll talk to Rath, if anyone sees me with a rogue, I they'll definitely give me the eye of death." Phoebe said.

"Well if you're shooting for a Jennerit, Rath is a good choice. He's simple and even uses a sword, like you. Actually, now that I think about it, you're always trying to talk to him, you interested by that old swordsman? Deande teased.

"What?! N-no, I don't, I really, really, don't like him. I mean, I like him, but, well, you know, like him like that." Phoebe stumbled to say.

"I'm just teasing you; I know you're into that shock trooper-pit fighter." Deande said as she tipped the wine into her mouth. "It's no secret, really, but hardly anyone's figured it out. Strange that is, especially when we were on Bliss saving his ass."

"Well, flying death mechas are my FAVORITE thing. However, I don't believe that Caldarius has any interest in someone like me." Phoebe sadly said.

Phoebe couldn't deny it, she did have an interest in him. No, she didn't have a mere interest in him; she knew almost everything about him. She knew his history, his equipment, and his fights in the pit. She knew that he'd been alive for over 100 years, she knew too much to be classified as "healthy interest." She wanted that pit fighter all to herself, she wanted only herself to be held by his arms. She wanted more than just that though, and when she learned that she was going on a mission to save him, she was in paralyzing disbelief. Ever since then, Caldarius and she never really communicated, usually because they were never assigned near each other. She wasn't going to be the stereotypical damsel, no, she wanted him to herself.

Over on Caldarius' side of the party, he and Rath were having casual chat chat.

"If you overcharge the capacitor too much, your weapon will be more suited to be a minor explosive device; useful if you're delivering it to someone you really don't like." Caldarius said. "Listen, if you want a good plasma rifle, you need the proper materials, expert craftsmanship, and some quiet time with a workbench." Caldarius unsheathed the blade mounted onto his forearm, showing off his deadly high-energy short-sword that has come in handy more often than it should have. Not surprising as Rath and Caldarius usually worked on projects together.

"Ah, such talent and no one to share it with except this old swordsman. You should really get a career in teaching." Rath joked, half-drunkenly.

"Well, I'm pretty old myself if you've forgotten. I'm not sure how many years under our belts we have collectively." Caldarius joked.

"My point is that you got to extend your circle a little, Caldi. You barely every talk to anyone or have any social skills at all. Hell, when we first tried helping you, you denied it. Talk to some other folk about all of your ludicrous ideas of weaponry and technology. HEY! I'll pay you a favor if you talk to an LLC about that!" Rath bellowed in laughter.

"HA! I'll take you up on that, but I never heard that they have to listen! Who do I need to bore to death today?" Caldarius sarcastically said.

"How abooooouuuuut, that Marquis fellow, have fun talking to that robot!" Rath said in an amused voice. Later, Caldarius approached a seemingly bored Marquis. Marquis was in a standard black and white two piece suit standing near a large marble pillar. He was standing there, watching his pocket watch, as if he was waiting for something.

"So, you're Marquis? I hear you're a good shot with a rifle. Speaking of which, is your programming fixed? I personally like you better the way you are now." Caldarius said.

"Unfortunately, my malfunction encouraged independent thinking. I was promptly "fixed," but I can still think for myself. And, well, yes I am, sir. Caldarius, it's one of the skills that I pride myself on. I was programmed with pinpoint accuracy and marksmanship. I'm a "smart" AI, I can learn skill just as you can. My rifle is top of the line, although I highly doubt that that's the case, but it's just what I'm told." Marquis said, eager to talk to someone and not do work.

"Well, you're using a highly inefficient ionized gas compressor and a horrible plasma igniter just looking at it. No offense, but I think that whatever they told you was a lie. But, you knew that, how could you not?" Caldarius said.

"U- what? I'm sorry, I can't understand you. It seems my databases on weapon mechanics and data of my rifle has been either deleted or misplaced. I wonder who might have wanted to do that?" Marquis sarcastically said. Suddenly, Phoebe came charging to Marquis and got his attention.

"Uh, Marquis? We have a situation regarding the ASD systems. Could you log into the security frame and figure out what's going on?" Phoebe asked.

"Sure thing, Ms. Hemsworth, I'll have it done before any damage is caused." Marquis responded. "I'll also download some files while I'm there…" He said quietly to himself.

Marquis left swiftly, leaving Caldarius kind of confused at what to do now. He glanced at Rath, who was signaling "no" with his hands. He turned to Phoebe, who was avoiding eye contact, and decided "Eh, why not?" He took a breath and prepared for a rich girl who doesn't understand a single thing he says.

"So, Phoebe, Could I see that sword of yours?" Caldarius said with a sigh. Phoebe looked around and pointed to herself. Caldarius nodded "yes" and she blushed before clearing her throat and gave it to him. Caldarius inspected the sword. It had a unique design, definitely one that required knowledge of swords to even order one to be built. It had an energy capacitor that was supposed to stun and not kill. It looks as if it was meant to cut through the air quickly with little resistance. Caldarius was absolutely impressed, given, his standards for an LLC were as low as the pit he fought in, but still, he doesn't get surprised very often.

 _"Hm, I forgot that this blade is one that aided in my rescue at the recharge facilities on Bliss, I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Caldarius thought to himself. "I swear, if they expect favors, it better be within reason."_

"I must say, this is a well-crafted sword. I'm intrigued, how did you get the knowledge to acquire such a blade?" Caldarius said.

"Oh, well, thank you. I've always had an interest in these kinds of things. I'm an inventor, by the way, a very good inventor." Phoebe said through a mild blush.

"A non-mechanical LLC? Interested inventing in something that isn't financial profit? This is surprising to me. If you would I'd appreciate you indulging me in conversation of LLC weapons and your views and interests in general." Caldarius said, genuinely surprised at her words.

A few hours later, Phoebe could make coherent sentences without tripping over her own words and it was a good conversation. Phoebe was confident in herself that she could hit it off with Caldarius now; she just needed the proper situation. Caldarius would pop a few jokes every now and then about ineffective and overrated strategies, and Phoebe would laugh a little and talk as much as she could. Phoebe figured that Caldarius would have thought it would be creepy if she knew everything he was talking about as he alluded to the pits often, so she lied and pretended to know less than she actually did. Phoebe's watch started to click.

"Oh, I got to go, see you later?" Phoebe asked as she left.

"Sure, I'd like to continue this." Caldarius said. Rath put his hand on Caldarius' shoulder, breaking his concentration.

"What happened, I was just waiting there for about an hour or two. Did you do it? Did you finally slay the closet unicorn? Rath Drunkenly said, slumped over.

"I don't know…" Caldarius said. "She knew way more than previously indicated."

Phoebe got Kleese and Ghalt and led them to a Podium in the middle of the large estate. She turned on a microphone and attempted to get the attention of the crowd.

"Hello? Before we begin the speech, I would like to say that YES, you can move around, but don't make too much noise while doing it." Phoebe said through the microphone. A large sigh was relieved from the crowd as they began to stealth their way across as to not make noise. She handed the microphone to Kleese, the representative and co-founder of the Battleborn next to Ghalt. (They both are)

"Hello, ladies, gentlemen, A.I, and everything in-between those things! We're celebrating because of the banishment of Lothar Rendain and his attempts to destroy Solus. We thank the LLC, the Peacekeepers, The rogues, the Jennerit Imperium defectors, and the Eldrid forces for aiding in our mission and everything you've offered to the Battleborn and for your bravery in the face of adversity. But on behalf of the Battleborn here, I think I can safely say that we needed this party to relax and talk about something that isn't entering a death A.I's ice palace, or destroying an entire empire, or writing letters for our families to see when we die, the usual. The Battleborn will always be here, offering protection to those in need as long as we exist. We will be offering services to those who've lost in the war. You have our condolences and we give you our sincerest apologies of those lost." Kleese spoke loudly. "Oh, that's it, go on, you can leave."

The party continued and Caldarius was back with Rath in the same area as before. They listened to the half-assed speech that Ghalt made Kleese write in order to show some semblance of compassion towards others.

"So wait, let me get this straight, she knew what she was talking about?" Rath asked, still heavily leaning onto Caldarius.

"Yeah, it was strange, weird, and kind of attractive. I hardly ever find anyone who can understand what I am saying, I can respect that. Maybe we'll talk later. "Caldarius explained.

"Whoa there, did you just pop the word, attractive? Is Caldarius thinking about progressing himself as a Kemessian?" Rath teased.

"I know it's probably never going to happen. She's a girl of riches, and I'm just a pit fighter. She's probably got an entire hall of court men waiting to take her hand." Caldarius rambled. "I wonder, however; of all people why talk to me?

( **A/N:** I'll be continuing this series for an indefinite amount of chapters. I really do like writing about this, so I hope it wasn't painful to read through my lack of writing experience. I'll be posting more in the uncertain future as I edit and revise the hell out of these chapters in an attempt to make it look nice.


	2. Dwarven Ale's on Me

( **A/N:** Hey look, it's another chapter published the same day as the other one! I wrote about 4 chapters but didn't know how to publish them, so I've got a few chapters ready to go. This isn't related to the story at all, just a fun little chapter I decided to write after playing too much Silent Hill and Battleborn. I eventually merged the two games together and came out with this. Also, in case you haven't noticed, Rath drinks a lot in the story. It's not an actually canon, but I just wanted to throw that in there, just for fun)

The day of the celebration had passed, and most crew members were either deep asleep or on a hellish hangover. The only ones who weren't drunk were most of the LLC, Eldrid, and the androids. Meanwhile, in dark room with no windows, two Jennerit were lurking about.

"Ugh, where am I!? It's dark in here! Anyone there?" Rath said mid-groan. Rath pushed down on a low-lying shelf, attempting to scan the room he was in.

"You're in the armory, a previously very QUIET ESTABLISHMENT!" Caldarius snapped. Caldarius looked over to his right and leaning on a wall was a figure he assumed was Rath undergoing the backlash of a college party worth of alcohol.

"Caldi? That you? If it is, would you kindly tell me how I got here?" Rath said in an aggravated voice, rubbing his face.

"I don't know, random assailant that I'm assuming is Rath. My J-HTX Should have filtered most of the alcohol out, but it evidently has NOT done that. I remember you owing me something, and that's about it. Assuming you ARE Rath, of course." Caldarius scraped through his mind to remember.

"That's it? Well, it's still more than I remember. I remem- wait, where's my sword?" Rath said, confused because he didn't have 3 swords, only 2. "Wait, I didn't bring anything to that party, so that means drunk Rath was roaming the streets with his swords. THIS IS BAD CALDI!"

Rath got up and sobered himself to search for the missing blade. A drunk and possibly pissed-off Jennerit isn't something or someone to trifle with. Attikus, another Jennerit, nearly destroyed an entire building in a drunken rampage. Luckily, there were others with him who could stop him, but with Rath, well… Rath was a sword fighter, and a damn good one. He earned the respect of his teammates, both post and pre-Jennerit departure, and Rath was THE Jennerit keeper of the sword.. He knew he was a mean drunk given the stories of his teammate's experiences with that, so this was bad. Rath was looking all over the armory, which he expected to find it in, given that it houses most of the weaponry and armor used.

"Where's that damned sword, if it isn't far, then maybe we have a chance that the mean drunk in me called it a day early on. Caldarius, do you think we should ask some of the crew members?" Rath asked. "I mean, they probably won't remember anything, but still, it's worth a shot, right?"

"You don't need my assistance given you just answered your own question." If you'll excuse me, I think I somehow drank more than you, so I need to rest. Either that, or my liver isn't as "good" as yours. I will admit, being the same level of hangover as you is quite embarrassing, though." Caldarius groaned out.

"Get up, Caldi; we need to come up anyways for a debriefing. Bring a notepad too, we won't remember anything for a few hours." Rath said.

Caldarius jolted himself with a power surge of his armor to get himself up. He rolled over onto the floor, but was disturbed when he saw something under his bed.

"Uh, Rath? I think I found your sword…" Caldarius said in a more awake tone.

"You did? Where? Under the bed?" Rath said as he swiftly moved to the other side to see. There it was, his sword. It wasn't pretty, but there, underneath a small, practically prison bed, was his sword. However, it was stabbed into the wall, parallel to the bed. The hilt was about under where Caldarius' head would've been. Just about then, someone knocked on the door and opened it, defeating the purpose of knocking.

"Hey, are you two aware of the blade that's coming out of the wall? Or am I losing my mind again?" Mike Said, concerned.

"Yes, we know of it, please don't touch it or your very life force will be slowly drained." Rath said.

"Well, if anyone asks, Mike did NOT trip over the bright crimson sword coming out of the floor, okay?" Mike Left without a second thought. Rath pulled the blade from out of the wall and put the 3 crimson blades in his chest with "Rath" engraved into it on the floor.

"So that's one mystery solved. Now let's check with everyone else. We need to know everything that happened, yesterday." Caldarius said.

They left the armory slightly more awake when they woke up. They went on their way to the debriefing room for some kind of meeting, whatever was called earlier. They were mid-way through the halls when something occurred to Caldarius.

"Wait, what time is it?" Caldarius asked:.

"I… Don't know actually. Should we find a clock?" Rath asked. Rath looked around, searching for any kind of clock. Or indication of time. There was nothing to be found in the silent halls of the ship they call home. The lights were alive and well, but no indication of even life was present.

"So, this is awkward. Come to think of it, the only person we've seen all day, or, whenever we are, was Mike, and he's a clone. You know, you'd imagine we'd carry a watch, or my suit's HUD would display time, but nope, guess not." Caldarius said to break the silence.

"Hey, is it me? Or is the ship, doing… something…" Rath said confused.

The metal panels of the ship were pealing from the walls, revealing a dark and molded over inner layer. A musky and foul odor filled the hallway, nauseating the two soldiers. The scent permeated the walls, as if they were closing in on them.

"AGK, DAMN, WHAT THE HELL?!" Rath complained in a fear of death. "This ship is killing us! If any of you Rogues are pulling another prank, it's only funny the first time! This is all too real to be a trick, but how is this real?"

"I don't know, Rath, but running seems a good idea about now." Caldarius said as if they were fine. They both sprinted back to their rooms to formulate a plan. They crossed the corridors and chambers of the ship in a moderate pace. The walls were collapsing, revealing bones in the walls. The two looked around, speechless at what was occurring. They looked from side to side, viewing how the green stained black walls that were under the metal panels of the ship revealed itself. Gooey fluid was oozing from pores in the walls, reaching the floor. The foul odor was assaulting the air and dazing Rath. They reached the doorway to the armory when they saw that the door was boarded up with wooden planks.

"Caldi, break em' and get in there before we die!" Rath shouted.

"N-NO! YOU TWO AREN'T GETTING IN H-HERE! W-w-wait, are you re-real? Or are you like the rest, just an illusion?" an unknown voice said in a panic. "I'm not opening this door, your food for inky people. HAH! I'M NEVER COMING OUT OF HERE!"

"Mike you twat, we're breaking it open if you don't open it." Rath said in an annoyed voice.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT WAS REALLY FUNNY, YOU'RE SHADOW PEOPLE FOOD, NOT ME, THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL SAID, AND THEY GOT CHOMPED BY SHADOWS, DIDN'T THEY!? OM NOM NOM!" Mike yelled in an insane fashion.

Rath nodded to Caldarius and he sliced through the door. Mike was in a corner, holding his assault rifle.

"DIE YOU FILTHY FUCKING SHA-" Mike started, but his gun didn't fire.

"You… left the safety on." Caldarius said awkwardly. Rath was charging to find more materials to block the doorway with.

"This gun has a safety switch? Well, you two don't look like shadow thingies… TALK! EXPLAIN! ALL OF THE SYNONYMS!" Mike said.

"Well, we were walking down the hall, and then the walls started to peal." Caldarius said. "We didn't encounter any of these "shadow things," though."

"Consider yourself lucky, they're dark beings that embody the figures and voice of people… scary." Mike explained in an overly dramatic voice. Meanwhile, Rath covered the wall with a Jennerit energy shield and grabbed his swords for the occasion in which he needs them.

"So, what now?" Rath asked "I mean, is there anything to do? I'd be fine just sitting here and waiting."

One of the walls burst open and black liquid leaked out along with it. The liquid burnt through the ship, corroding through the metal.

"Well, at least we know that we're not flying. On the upside, we can leave if Rath feels like cutting a hole through the floor." Caldarius said. "Wait, isn't there a clock in here?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? THERE'S A HOLE IN THE FLOOR BECAUSE SOME KIND OF BLACK LIQUID CORRODED THROUGH THE METAL?! DOESN'T THAT SCARE YOU OR SOMETHING?! BECAUSE I'M PRACTICALLY SHITTING BRICKS RIGHT NOW!" Rath said in a mix of quiet panic.

"Buuuut, we aren't in space or in the sky, and that is a good thing." Caldarius said.

Out of nowhere, the metal bent into the shape of an old lady's face like a pin impression toy. The walls of the ship closed inwards, bending and warping themselves into a cage.

"Uh, guys, I think my skin's peeling off…" Mike said in a panic. His skin was melting off of this bones as he screamed, but he didn't feel it…

Mike's head shot up immediately. He was still screaming as he checked his body to ensure that he was alive and well. He was strewn over the floor of a dark room. The floor was a dark shade of grey and was just about as cold as Bliss if it were in a nuclear winter.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?" Mike asked himself.

Rath and Caldarius were quick to get up. They checked themselves, the wall, and most of all, the clock that should've been there; It wasn't. Caldarius was in his bed with Rath in the same place. It was just like the first time, but Mike was there in the room.

"I don't think it's over yet…" Caldarius said uneasily.

"What's not over?" a voice said, peeking in the door.

Mike rolled over and grabbed his rifle before opening fire immediately on whatever it was. Mike noticed that it was Ghalt and kept firing.

"Woah, you must be really messed up if you shot everywhere BUT where I am." Ghalt said. "Anyways, are you all coming to th- woah, what happened here?" Ghalt looked around and saw slash marks and gunfire everywhere on the walls and ceiling.

"Are you all okay? If you need a counselor, I can provide one for you, but, make sure you're all functioning like normal living beings, okay?" Ghalt said uncomfortably as he backed out of the room.

"Well, uh, was it just me, or were we all in some kind of weird hell or dream?" Rath asked.

"Well, I was definitely there, and I saw Caldarius there too." Mike said.

"I was there, correct… but where exactly were we? Was it a dream? I hope it wasn't because that means that my mind is scarier than I thought." Caldarius wondered. "We were all there and all have a memory of it, but how? Wait, I have an idea, maybe… it was a metaphor for Rath's liver."

Rath weakly punched Caldarius. groaned and felt something pulling on his arm. He jerked it up and saw a bottle of "Ekkunar Ale."

"Oh hell, which one of you dickheads brought out the mystic stuff? I think we were just drunk, very, very drunk. Ekkunar Ale does those kinds of things, and like Eldrids, it makes everything weird as hell. We're talking about some pretty strong crap here, magical ale that even I don't dare touch." Rath explained.

"But that's one bottle, is that enough to do that sort of thing? I mean, how cou-" Caldarius saw a warning symbol and checked his blood makeup. "Wait, there's an ample amount of pure, unfiltered, straight up Eldrid death root in my blood. I think Rath was right, those Eldrid are bat-shit crazy."

"Rath is right? That's weird. But, how did I end up here?" Mike added.

"Let's just agree to never go to another LLC party again, okay?" Rath said. "But first, what's the time?"

( **A/N:** Wow, I'm new to publishing, and I'm already doing filler episodes!)


	3. Ironing Out Those Lumps

**Kito's Patch Notes: I'm sorry for not uploading for so long.** **I honestly just forgot and I don't have a good excuse for uploading.** **I'll try to upload more often, but I'm devoting a lot of my time to other things. I'm also working on a full original story whose universe I've been developing for a few years now. Chapter four is almost ready, and I'm either going to upload some neat-o Doki Doki or Halo, both of which will be a lot darker and lewd than Battleborn.**

"The mission is simple, hunt the lieutenants on Bliss and kill them, we can't have any more possible Rendain resurgences. If we see another uprising, it's possible that we might have another system-ending crisis on our hands, and we barely avoided the last one." Melka explained over the comms. "And Caldarius, Rath, leave enough of the corpse for it to count as evidence to the royalties that Rendain's influence still exist, am I clear? Also, everyone make sure that they're dressed warm enough to survive Bliss. We all remember Mike's "meltdown" during the liberation of ISIC."

"Kill the Lieutenants, but not too much, got it." Rath said. Rath was checking to make sure that his swords were still sharp and energetic.

"Look, Foxtrot, Deande, Phoebe, just try to keep them from killing everyone in sight so we can look good and convince the Eldrids to not exterminate all of the Jennerit, okay?" Melka groaned.

They didn't respond to her, but they just silently nodded. They readied their weapons and jumped off of the ramp when it got close enough to the ground. The Penarch left and the fighters embarked on their icey journey.

"We can never go anywhere nice, either, can we?" Rath said to Caldarius, unsheathing his swords.

The group walked into the path that was displayed on their map, pushing cold snow with every step. The road was unpaved and boring, very, very, boring. They encountered nothing but local creatures that didn't attack them. The unforgiving blizzard blew onto them, as it did on Bliss. They trudged through the cold, making small talk every now and then.

A little less than an hour later, everyone was perched up on a high cliff, watching an outpost.

"There, that's a textbook Jennerit outpost." Rath said, looking through binoculars. "I don't see the Lieutenant or captain, but I do see some Bliss Bugs eating the absolute crap out of that power conduit."

Everyone except Fox was huddled near each other, passing along the binoculars. They were proning on a cliff, spying on the base. Fox was guarding the perimeter, watching for any scouts or signs of potential danger. Rath handed it to Phoebe.

"I'm pretty sure that they have no funding, meaning that there is either no support for these factions, or that no one even knows about them." Phoebe said, handing it over to Deande.

"Yep, these idiots most likely just grabbed a gun and ran like hell from Tempest when we leveled it to rubble. They don't look like reformers though, just a survivalist group. Seriously, these guys could've gotten a whole lot of supplies, but these guys are barely armed. Could be a trap I guess." Deande said, handing it to Caldarius.

"Reformer or not, these slags aren't going to last very long. Low grade weapons and armor, minimal food and water resources, no working transportation; these guys are deader than the Bliss bug Rath's laying on." Caldarius said. Caldarius threw the binoculars at Rath's head, causing him to recoil slightly and pick them up.

"I think we walked up to them and asked for what they wanted, we'd get a fairly good answer." Rath suggested.

"Sure, we'll all be dandy and okay. Walk up to Jennerit, sure." Deande said sarcastically.

Rath picked up his gear and prepared to slide off of the snowy cliff. He plunged down, feet first into a slide.

"Wait, you were seriou- RATH YOU IDIOT!" Deande shouted.

"Well, Deande, you know the drill. Be prepared to kill them if you need to and I'll keep the stray buggers off of you two. Phoebe, well, go do whatever Rath's doing and make sure he doesn't die." Caldarius said as he perched himself in position to surge downwards.

Deande shadowed over into a position that would be suitable for when Rath likely screwed up his attempt at diplomacy. Phoebe took a quieter path to Rath's position, waiting in case Rath needed another character in his badly made up story of how he got there. Rath was near the Jennerit troops, when one turned around.

"Are you a new recruit? Because if not, the execution block is over there." The Jennerit Captain said. "Wait, aren't you that Verod Rath person? Should we kill you? I actually forgot. Ah, the hell with it, ALL SQUADS, OPEN FIRE ON THE INTRUDERS!"

"So, what now?" Rath said after starting a fire from the burnt armor and leftover firewood. Rath slammed his hand on his face and said "AWW CRAP I FORGOT TO KEEP THEM ALIVE!"

"Well, we can't leave with nothing. Want to search more and make up a story? Maybe we can search for another lead on Bliss while we're here." Phoebe suggested.

"That sounds plausible, but I'll inform Ghalt first. Rath, Phoebe, you find us a lead. Caldarius, yo- wait, where is he? Ah, whatever, he can hear us through comms. Caldarius, I want you to scout out the area while Fox watches our backs. Everyone clear?" Deande explained.

Everyone responded with a "yes" and did their task. Fox got into a good range position to fire from in case something happened. Caldarius did some scouting and marked a map of where they were and got a general idea of where things are in their local area. Phoebe and Rath looked for another job to do as that section of Bliss looked all clear on Varelsi and Rendain resurgents.

"Ghalt gave us the green light and it seems interesting. Let's go onto another quest!" Rath said triumphantly.

Everyone was walking with Caldarius in front and Fox tailing from a distance. Caldarius didn't know where Rath was leading them, but he was the one with the map and ability to read it. In the distance, they saw a large cave and a large crystal formation.

"Is that what we're looking for?" Caldarius asked.

"Precisely, an ancient artifact. Hard to tell where it came from, but we can find out. That's our job anyways. We need to find out where it came from, and find out what it means." Phoebe said through a thick face mask to protect against cold.

"Usually, artifacts lead to death, and if that is so, than this is going to be a long mission. Well, we've done weirder things before." Caldarius said. "Let's just hope it's a portal bloom so that way we know what's coming."

"Alright, everyone look for something interesting and we'll come back here in about half an hour. We should keep tabs on each other, okay?" Deande ordered.

Rath and Caldarius grouped together, while Deande and Phoebe paired to investigate the crystal. Fox stayed back to watch the entrance to the cave and the crystal formation. There was a large impact mark, as if the crystal was lodged in place.

"Well, Fox isn't the best at NOT destroying things, so that might be it. Wonder if that purple crystal is Varelsi, maybe it's a power source. Definitely isn't the usual power generating shards we always see." Rath said in the dark cave.

Rath and Caldarius were wondering in a cave, the only light sources were glowing mushrooms, their armor, their weapons, and small crystal formations.

"It's damn wet in here, and it's dark. Seems like a perfect place to get ambushed. Say, how'd we find this place at all?" Caldarius inquired.

"Oh you know, the usual. Someone traced some signal and it led to here. So, anyways, while we're here, do you remember anymore from that party?" Rath asked to pass time.

"Funny you ask, I do remember everything that happened, but, I don't remember anything out of the ordinary. Either that or my memory is still fuzzy, which it usually is. What I certainly remember is you owing me a favor. But, with that said, how'd I get as drunk as you and Mike?" Caldarius asked to himself. "Let's worry about that later, right now, all that matters is this cave and crystal."

"I always give out drunk favors, it's what makes things interesting. Well, maybe you can fill me in on how drunk me performed at an LLC party. Hopefully I'm not in debt to anyone else, because they probably don't know the value of a favor from me. It has none, really." Rath said.

The two stepped through the cave, being cautious about the slippery and uneven floor. The small crystals started to hum, slowly getting louder as if something had activated them. The two Jennerit were quick to notice, Caldarius calling the others as Rath kept a keen lookout.

"Strange, this crystal behaves like normal shards, but clearly is not. They're definitely not the Varelsi shards that we saw at Tempest that Rendain used to power his empire." Deande said as she touched it, feeling for any abnormalities.

"Oh, I recommend that you do not touch the crystal as it may be dangerous. Maybe it is radioactive, but we should call some attention to it. I don't think we can solve this on our own with so little equipment and leads. It looks like the crystal may not be a normal formation, rather something that was triggered to grow following some disaster or large natural event" Phoebe pondered.

"Uh, hello? The crystals in here are humming, did you guys do anything to the one outside?" Caldarius said over comms.

"Well, Deande touched it, but I doubt that it has anything to do with such a small contact. Did you two step on anything strange?" Phoebe asked.

"Hey, uh, Caldi? I think we just triggered something to grow from the rocks." Rath said from a distance.

"Wait, the crystal outside isn't a crystal… it's a damn golem keeper!" Caldarius figured. "Rath, you and I are out of here, ASAP. You two, just try not to die as it probably woke up by now." Caldarius said.

"That explains its sudden appearance. Something triggered its growth, and its been using this cave as its breeding grounds." Phoebe said. Soon, the large crystal rose up, causing the snow to shake.

Caldarius and Rath ran towards the entrance, watching as golems started to rise from the ground. Caldarius shot 3 flashbangs in succession, blinding them for a short while as he gravity surged over to the mouth of the cave. Rath turned towards the back of the cave and caused a catalytic smash to propel himself towards the entrance. Phoebe and Deande prepared their weapons, watching as the golem rsse up head first. It pushed the ground with its arm, snow falling from its joints causing the ground to loosen and the snow to shift and ice to crack.

"Rath, on me, this won't take long" Caldarius said in an excited voice, reading his TMP and blade.

After quickly killing the golem and its underlings, they called for evac as they saw no other reason to stay on Bliss. They made it to a clearing and waited for a ship to pick them up.

"So we found nothing, killed a few Jennerit, and killed some kind of golem. Things definitely got more boring since Rendain was banished. *sigh* I guess we have to wait for another disaster to have some fun. Guess we'll just… develop ourselves as people." Deande said glumly.

"Well, Deande, you know we could always just meet up in the usual place an-" Fox said before being cut off by Deande rushing to close his mouth.

"You know, we don't talk about that. ESPECIALLY, in public, dear." Deande whispered. "Oh, we're just talking about… ugh, just, please pretend this never happened." Deande said in a tired voice.

"As long as we don't have to talk to you about your feelings, than you're not gonna have any trouble here." Caldarius said as Rath nodded.

"You know, I've never thought I'd see the high spymistress hiding something so meaningless with that much fervor." Rath said, putting his swords into his chest on the Penarch, wearing Jennerit robes instead of armor. "When do you think we're gonna get irrational over things that don't matter? Or, better question, when are you going to put that data recorder of yours away?" Rath asked. Caldarius was inspecting his recorder for traces of data copy and recent usage.

"I swear, Phoebe found this, Rath. You know what'll happen if this is used against me? Do you understand everything that happened in that prison? If this gets into the wrong hands…" Caldarius said skeptically.

"You're already irrational, apparently. What harm will something like that do? Me and Deande have heard ALL of it, but nothing harmful except some possibly incredibly embarrassing details of you forming a one way relationship with an inanimate object meant to record yo- yeah I get it, nevermind." Rath said.

"I know how LLC are, and they aren't exactly the kind of people to NOT take advantage of some dirt on a Jennerit, especially one as vital as the queen's shock trooper," Caldarius said.


	4. The Nice Mech

**Kito's Patch Notes:** **So I realized last chapter that a lot of the research I do for this to adhere to the lore and set out universe is really by myself since to community is so small. This just means that I'll either take a while trying to connect the story together and theorizing and possibly try finishing EVERYONE's challenges. I'll probably just expand on a character's traits and make them exaggerated for the sake of my sanity. Anyways, I know this series is terribly sporadic and I don't really have a usual writing schedule. I'm mainly working on another series that doesn't really count as "Fanfiction." Anyways, I'm getting more into this series over the summer and I finally figured out what I wanted from this chapter.**

Phoebe was in the bathroom, listening to the data recorder that Beatrix had traded with her. It was a copy of Caldarius' data recorder during his imprisonment in the Jennerit Imperium.

"It's my birthday today, but I don't have many plans. I was thinking about me and data recorder going for a nice walk, and then we could talk about my plans for turning Rendain into a very mushy soup. We did the same thing last year, but data recorder doesn't seem to mind; that's what love is, you know," Caldarius said on the data recorder.

"So, when subjected to prolonged periods of quarantine from social contact, he'll fall for anything. I doubt that love like that can last, though. I mean, if it did, then he'd still be with the a recorder," Phoebe said, trying to figure out how to approach Caldarius.

On the Penarch, the battleborn were meeting for a debriefing.

"Ever since that Varelsi portal surged a few weeks ago, everyone around the system had been getting strange readings, signals, and sightings. We've got a call from another UPR colony to investigate some Varelsi portal blooms. They seem to have a high concentration in that colony, so there might be some reason why. We're sending a small squadron to head over there. Alright, Mike, Orendi Deande, ISIC, and Attikus, we're sending you to the distress call," Ghalt said firmly. Orendi excitedly screamed and climbed onto Attikus and shake her fist into the air, who didn't really seem to care or pay any attention. Everyone else made a quick glance, but stopped caring because of Orendi's usually erratic behavior. Caldarius looked back at Ghalt and put one hand on his waist while raising the other to signal his question and Ghalt pointed at him.

"So how did that portal surge activate that golem? Or really, how did it corrupt it, or whatever the hell it did," Caldarius asked begrudgingly.

"I'll be honest, we don't know what it did exactly, but we do believe that it's dangerous. Everyone got that? Since there are no more final questions, this meeting is adjourned." Ghalt said.

After the meeting, everyone walked out of the briefing room, everyone clearing out as fast as they could through the doors. It was uncomfortably warm and stuffy, but because there were so many of them with varying heights, it took a while for everyone to escape. They had to back up repeatedly and line up to fit through the small sets of doors. Mike had realized that he was next to Rath and decided to take the opportunity and ask a question he couldn't quite figure out.

"Hey, Rath? Where in Solus did you even find Ekkunar Ale, anyways?" Mike asked Rath.

"I saved that Ale for a very special occasion, and it seemed like the death of Rendain was one hell of a thing to drink to. Like Boldur said, "It DOES NOT qualify as poison if used correctly," so I assumed that Ekkunar ale was good; it is not. But I wonder, how did you get wrapped into that?" Rath answered, turning his head to face him.

"Me and Monty wanted to test how resistant to I was to alcohol being a clo- I mean an ultimate badass. After that, a blur. I'm assuming you shared some of that ale, which would've been awesome if you didn't. I guess I have no higher tolerance than anyone else." Mike said.

"Well, that's one mystery solved. Hey, how about we try out that poetry thing you were talking about. Where's that from, anyways? Doesn't sound like an Eldrid or Jennerit drink, so is it some UPR thing?" Rath asked

"Poetry isn't a- what?" Mike asked, confused.

While Mike explained to Rath the definition of poetry and a few other words that Rath didn't fully understand, Phoebe was attempting to squeeze through the crowd of people and catch up to Caldarius who was always one of the first to leave. She tried to get through the small gaps between people, thankful that she didn't have her formal wear through the crowd because of its obvious size. Phoebe clenched her teeth as she felt metal, skin, and a host of other materials scrape her skin as she rushed through the crowd like a lost child. Her body was pushed together often, especially when among the larger members of the Battleborn, like Attikus or Montana. After what seemed like forever in-between people in a painstaking attempt to squeeze through all of them, she finally caught a full sight of her favorite Jennerit walking through a long hallway that lead to the armory.

"Hey, do you remember when you said that you'd be resuming your fiery march or whatever against Rendain? Well, now that Rendain's pretty much dead or banished and whatever, whatcha doing now?" Phoebe asked, rushing to his side to gain proximity.

"Eh, I've been wondering what I should do ever since we banished him. I've been wondering what my purpose here is, but I guess I have nothing planned for the next few indefinite hundred years. I'm not very good at thinking ahead due to my immortality discouraging time management. Before Deande showed up, I figured I would spend all my time there until the Jennerit eventually took over the world," Caldarius said, not startled by her sudden appearance. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. So, you don't have any plans? Like, no plans to do anything or meet anyone? Maybe, a significant other waiting for you?" Phoebe asked hopefully.

Caldarius made a confused face behind his helmet, but decided to just silently nod for "no." Phoebe's heart fluttered in her ribcage and straight through her face, filling with hope that maybe Caldarius thought of Phoebe as a partner. Caldarius wasn't accustomed to how humans talk or their cultures so he assumed it was normal and didn't pay any mind to how much Phoebe was jittering with excitement.

"S-so, in the uh, in the now, would you b- well not the now, but…" Phoebe attempted to say, stopped the excitement that scattered her mind. Phoebe closed her eyes and took in a breath, thinking about her words as much as she could before she opened her mouth. Caldarius shot her a glance and reached the conclusion that Phoebe is probably just an idiot before looking away.

"Caldarius, are you free at all tonight?" Phoebe said slowly so she could articulate herself correctly. Phoebe smiled awkwardly, knowing that it was a longshot, but still feeling like it had a decent chance to be a possibility. Caldarius was taken back by this, startled by just how weird it was for someone to ask him that.

" _What the hell is wrong with this bitch? Did she hit her head somewhere especially hard on Tempest? She's been acting like a complete idiot ever since. Does she plan on kidnapping me and using me as some kind of biology sample? Does she really think that I have time for her, some kind of LLC rich girl? Seriously, what is wrong with this moron?"_ Caldarius thought to himself aggressively.

"No, I have things planned for tonight and for the foreseeable nights ahead of me," Caldarius responded coldly, still moving forward. He may have just said he didn't have plans, but he didn't really want to spend time with Phoebe. Phoebe's lungs collapsed and her movement stopped, as if on cue with Caldarius' denial to her query. Caldarius walked away from Phoebe, who's face had lost all color and emotion.

Caldarius deactivated his gravity manipulators and sat down on his bed. He removed his TMP from its holster on his back and placed it under his pillows when a pounding started on the door to his brightly lit quarters.

"Where's the damn panel on this thing?" A muffled voice said angrily. The door shot open and Rath came walking uneasily in.

"Hey Caldy," Rath said, waving said as he collapsed on his bed face-first.

"Hey Rath, what's up? Lose another game of Pazaak?" Caldarius asked, interested in Rath's ventures. It was pretty usual for Rath to come to their quarters drunk or in some weird manor, usually stemming from his tendency to get involved in odd situations.

"Book club. What's up with you? Anything interesting?" Rath said. While Caldarius was trying to figure out what Poetry club had to do with him coming in like that, he figured he could have a little fun with his experience today.

"Funny story; so you know Phoebe? The LLC girl?" Caldarius asked, Rath nodding in response. "Get this, she asked if I was free tonight? I mean, what the hell was she thinking?" Caldarius said.

"Maybe it was because you were totally hitting on her at the party?" Rath said jokingly.

"Uhh, what party?" Caldarius said, genuinely confused.

 **Last Notes:** **Hats off to anyone who gets the Pazaak reference. Anyways, I think I've got my thoughts of the plot and character arcs more organized, so this should be easier to write for me now which means more uploads. A little shorter than the other chapters, but the next one's going to have a lot more packed into it. This chapter was a huge tension point because I didn't really know what I wanted to do with everyone, but I feel like a lot of things happened in this chapter.**


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